Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 08 – New Students

Makoto leaves the Demiplane to head back to Rotsgard, and while Tomoe is eager to determine the precise ways mist gates have affected the weather, Mio is simply sad to see the Young Master leave again so soon. But teachers have class, and he’s got three new students: Sif and Yuno Rembrandt, who he saved last season with judo and ambrosia, and the more mysterious Karen Force.

He has one of his blue lizardman friends fight his existing students (urging him not to use his breath and fight at no more than 20 percent), and they get trampled, but surely learn valuable lessons through their failure. Meantime, he has the three new students come at him at once with everything they’ve got, instructing them to adjust their tactics on the fly.

After the battles, the existing students are surprised the infamous Rembrandt sisters are so … nice. Makoto is more concerned with Karen Force, and takes her aside after class to learn more. Because she’s far more powerful than the real Karen should be, he suspects, and is quite correct, that she’s an imposter. Shiki confirms she’s actually Rona, a general in the Demon’s Army who specializes in … seduction.

Naturally, neither her magical nor feminine charms have much effect on our young heartbreaker, who is already more than neck-deep in lovely ladies to whom he doesn’t give the time of day. Over lunch, he makes it clear he and Shiki are netural and have no immediate quarrel with Karen/Rona as long as she doesn’t disrupt his business. Karen, in turn, tells him the purpose of her disguise: she’s investigating rumors of demi-human trafficking in Rotsgard.

Makoto pays the Rembrandt sisters a visit at their palatial dorm, and they receive him in lovely Renaissance-style dresses bearing their family crest. They express their heartfelt gratitude for him saving them, but he assures them he didn’t free them from their curses so they could live their lives indebted to him. Like his other students, he has high hopes for them.

After bribing the ogres with bananas, Eris and Aqua are all too eager to assist Lime Latte, now Tomoe’s spy and apprentice, in the investigation Karen/Rona mentioned. We later see Lime taking the initiative, roughing up people until he finds signs of trafficking on a still under-construction part of the academy. There, he puts his sword to the throat of someone wearing instructor’s robes. Looks like the darker corners of the academy are as rotten as Mio’s potatoes.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic – 04 – Something Stronger than Fear

After the forest ordeal that led to Ken gaining a blue grizzly cub sidekick, Rose doesn’t sugarcoat her plans for him: he’ll be joining her in the vanguard of the coming war against the Demon Lord’s army, healing the wounded on the front lines.

The first battle will be led by Amila, who knows, fears, and hates Rose, but will be delegating the actual fighting to the faceless Black Knight. There’s also a demon mad scientist named Hyriluk, who developed the giant snake Ken and Rose fought, and has developed a stronger one.

Rose urges Ken to steel himself for the duties that await him, but she does at least let him sleep in a real bed. And while he was once annoyed by his roommate Tong’s snoring, now he finds it comforting. The next day, Rose has Ken run an obstacle course with Blurin (his bear) on his back, simulating the act of carrying a wounded soldier through the hell of battle.

Tong and the other non-healing members of the Resuce Team are all too happy to provide the hell, and after about four hours. Ken finally reaches his limit and collapses earlier than he expected. Rose tells him that’s due to the added stress of a combat zone, something he’ll have to overcome.

Next, Ken runs through the town with Blurin on his back, a sight that would be cause for concern among the townsfolk if he weren’t wearing the familiar garb of the Rescue Team. Everyone assumes there’s a good reason he has a blue bear on his back.

Ken, whom we know to be an extremely Good Guy, has a wholesome interaction with a grocer who offers him a free peffle (one of the tasty tomatillo-looking fruits of this world). He promises to return, which is when I imagine he’ll meet the fox-eared girl featured in the OP.

As Ken heads to the castle to visit Suzune and Kazuki, a flustered young man in a lab coat chases after him and soon falls behind. Ken eventually notices him and stops. Turns out this man is Orga Fleur, who along with his younger sister Ururu are the two other Healers in the Rescue Team.

Orga is appreciative of Ken’s healing, as he’s not as good at healing himself as he is others. He explains that in battles he and Ururu stay in the rear as supporters. When Ken asks what’s rattling around in his head—can he really be in the vanguard—Orga trusts Rose’s faith in him.

When Ken reaches the castle gates, he’s pleasantly surprised that Blurin, technically a monster, is allowed to pass along with him, as Rose vouched for him. Kazuki is out in the woods training with Sir Siglis (mentioned by name by Hyriluk as a human to watch out for), but Suzune is there, and overjoyed to see Ken.

Suzune is super excited to pet Blurin, but even when the bear rejects her with a rude swipe, she still “savors the feel of his toe beans.” Then Ken sees the callouses on her hand, takes it in his, and heals it, making her blush. When she asks if he came to see her, Ken says he came to see her and Kazuki. It’s clear Suzune wouldn’t mind being considered special to him … clear to anyone but Ken!

Visiting Suzune, seeing her callouses, and hearing that Kazuki is also training hard is ultimately what steels Ken for the battle to come, not all the running around with Blurin. Back home all he could do was admire people like them, who could do things he couldn’t. But in this world, there’s plenty he can do to support them. He can literally be the Heroes’ hero.

That night he spots Rose gazing at the moon and tells her while he initially feared the battlefield, his desire to save Suzune and Kazuki is stronger than that fear. Rose smiles, for this is exactly what she wanted to hear from her presumptive heir, and gives him a gentle punch to the chest, declaring him an official member of the Rescue Team.

The next morning, she surprises him with a mission: he’ll be joining Hero Suzune’s training outside the castle. Both Ken and Suzune are such cute and fun characters to watch, and their chemistry is so strong, their finally teaming up is something I’m very much looking forward to!

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 03 – Now for Wrath, Now for Ruin

When the heroes of Limia and Gritonia meet, it’s extremely awkward thanks to Tomoki. Whether he’s determined not to show any affection for Limia’s hero in front of his lover or party, he’s very rude, curt, and petulant with Hibiki, who is only trying to get along.

I have to think part of it is his unresolved feelings of inferiority and victimhood back home. Hibiki is a reminder of the world he left behind, so it makes sense he’d be hostile. All the adulation he’s received has given him a big head, to boot.

But while power has corrupted Tomoki and turned him into a big haughty self-involved jerk, Hibiki is ever modest and grateful for her support, in particular from Navarre. The two have developed a rapport that borders on the romantic.

Hibiki tells Navarre how easy her life was and how she came to this world in search of a challenge. She didn’t think she’d find someone she could trust to watch her back, but she’s found her in Navarre. As sweet as this scene was, it was tinged with the bitter notion it might be a death flag.

The battle commences, with Tomoki insisting it take place at night, when he’s secretly immortal. He charges right in with his party, but ends up falling for a simple trap: the ground in front of the demon fortress opens up and swallows his rank-and-file.

When he confronts the “demigiant” demon general Io, he doesn’t introduce himself or ask his name, which is bad form in combat. When Hibiki comes in to back him up, she doesn’t repeat his mistake, but Io uses a magic ring to remove the goddess’ blessing from both heroes, leaving them weakened and fatigued.

Tomoki, terrified he’s no longer immortal, flees immediately with his party, who don’t question his orders. Hibiki, a little disgusted by Tomoki’s craven conduct unbecoming a hero, stays put, and she and her party fight what increasingly looks like a hopeless battle against the blue demon colossus.

Just as Hibiki starts going to a dark place where she’s faced with an foe she’s not strong enough to defeat, Navarre gets with Woody and tells him to implement a plan he’s not happy about. That’s because Navarre wants powers to be bestowed upon her and her alone to defeat the demon general.

These powers, represented by a red rose brand on her neck, come at the cost of the user’s life. Hibiki doesn’t know this until she’s being whisked away by Woody’s high-speed flight magic. Navarre, who’s never looked more beautiful than she does in her final moments, gives one look back at Hibiki before turning to her foe.

Hibiki is powerless to stop her best friend in this world from sacrificing herself in a literal blaze of glory. But Navarre, a sword ogre, doesn’t see her actions as tragic, but the height of honor. While she gained a hyuman friend in Hibiki, she’d always known her death would come on the battlefield, giving absolutely everything she’s got.

There were two heroes on the battlefield that night: Otonashi Hibiki, and Navarre Polar. Iwahashi Tomoki is a lot of things—blowhard, chuuni, figurehead, pawn—but he’s no hero. If he had actually put his life on the line, maybe Navarre wouldn’t have had to die. I’m really upset about losing her so soon after we met her.

Whither Makoto? Well, his battle against Sofia and Mitsurugi in the first season finale took place the same time as the heroes’ siege of the demon fortress. We even see the column of light he makes from their POV. And while we know he did a number of the demons, it also did a number on him, as we see Tomoe and Mio desperately healing him.

Now that we know the whole deal with the two Heroes brought here from Japan, and how one of them is no hero at all, we return to the present, and Makoto about to reach his destination of Rotsgard Academy.

The Devil is a Part Timer!! – S2 E07 – A Boom, a Whoosh, and a Hug

The first day’s haul at the beach shack is beyond Ms. Amane’s expectations. Emi meets with Maou, Ashiya, Urushihara, and Camio at the lighthouse to discuss Amane, who is clearly no ordinary human.  Camio explains that the Demon Realm split into hardliners and pacifists after Maou’s fall.

A group of the latter, all ginned up by Olba Meyer, are on there way to Choshi now for the Sacred Sword, AKA Alas Ramus. Both Emi and Maou want to take responsibility for the war they started without leaving it all to Amane, powerful though she may be.

It’s actually a relief that Amane isn’t specifically after Maou or Emi or the sword, and even delivers Maou’s sword that Camio brought along when he arrived in Japan. When a Gate opens and the demon soldiers start pouring through, Emi flies over to meet them first and starts cutting them down, though notably not killing them.

When their leader steps in to have a duel, Emi is game, and has Alas scale down so it’s a more even fight. The fight never happens, though, because Emi bought all the time Maou, Ashiya, and Urushihara needed to transform into their demon forms of King Satan, Sariel, and Lucifer. The troops and their leader are immediately cowed by the presence of their masters.

With a final flourish, Maou puts his arm around Emi and tells his underlings to return home with the message that the king lives and is gathering his power on Earth to bring peace to the demon realm once more. The demons and Camio return peacefully through the light of the lighthouse, and then Maou, Emi, Ashiya and Urushihara close the Gate.

Chiho, Suzuno, and Amane greet the four when they wash up on the shore, most of their power expended. Amane is glad the mess these folks brought to her little seaside town has been cleaned up, but also tells them that they have to leave as the magic they used has upset the balance of one of the few places where souls can be cleansed during Obon.

The bad news is, Maou & Co. are fired and in a flash of wind Amane and the beach shack have vanished, but the good news is that Amane paid them handsomely for their work, and Maou’s apartment has been repaired, so after a tour of Choshi, the crew is poised to return to the “Castle”.

Maou explains that the sword Camio brought him was made of his magic-packed horn that Emi had cut off, and then perhaps chooses his words poorly when he boasts to Emi that once his power is fully back he’ll “dominate” her and everyone else. That gets both Emi and Chiho upset and demanding either an apology or clarification.